India’s ‘untouchable’ women help in tsunami relief effort

Courtesy of Methodist Relief and Development Fund Tsunami survivors in Andhra Pradesh, southeast India, express thanks for relief materials sent by British Methodists and others.

A UMNS Report
By Kathleen LaCamera*

When Ekasi Siromani heard stories of the tsunami’s terrible destruction in coastal areas near her south India village, she “felt deeply moved” to do something.

This mother of three children-- herself one of India’s “untouchables” – spent four days packing up rice, dhal (lentil-based food staple), oil and clothing provided by the British Methodist Relief and Development Fund. The fund is the British Methodist Church’s equivalent to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.  

In a different village, another mother volunteered her time to pack emergency supplies as well. In addition, she donated two day’s wages and refused “to take a single pie for her labor” while she worked.  Mrs. Ankalmma is also part of the “untouchable community.” Widowed and among the poorest in her village, she is raising four children on her own.

 “I had immense joy working for the victims,” she said. “Daily I pray for [them].”

Both women are members of long-established, local self-help groups supported by the Methodist Relief and Development Fund and its partner organizations in South India. Self-help groups enable lower caste and marginalized women to secure and repay small loans that help them sustain businesses in areas such as tailoring, weaving and farming.    

“These self-help groups give both moral and practical support,” explained Isabelle Carboni, the fund’s program officer for Asia and West Africa. “The groups can register as an official [body] and go to local officials…They have secured lots of small victories in getting new roads, schools and water taps particularly for their communities.”

Courtesy of Methodist Relief and Development Fund A local self-help group in India prepares relief supplies for those affected by the tsunami.

“I was really impressed. These women have so much to do every day, looking after their homes, collecting water, going to the fields. They managed their time well enough to do all of that and this extra as well,“ Carboni told United Methodist News Service.

“The women also have been helping with counseling, especially with children who are still afraid of the water…. They have become so empowered in their own groups and communities that they want to share what they’ve learned and gained with others. ”

The Methodist Relief and Development Fund has raised nearly $2 million to date for tsunami relief efforts throughout South East Asia -- more money than the organization has ever raised before in a single appeal.

According to fund director Kirsty Smith, the success of the tsunami campaign may help to raise the profile of other pressing global needs, like those addressed in the UK-wide “Make Poverty History” campaign involving faith groups, charities, government and major celebrities.

Smith observed that often “it seems to be those who have the least who are most ready to offer whatever support they can to those who have less…. [Aid] can provide not only the practical assistance needed but also an increase in organizational skills and self-esteem that enable people to offer support to others.”     

The British Methodist fund supports locally-based partner organizations in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  It targets resources where the need is greatest by supporting projects based in countries on the lower end of the United Nation’s Human Development Index, and with organizations too small to have access to other funding.

Along with UMCOR, the Methodist Relief and Development Fund responds to global emergencies through Action by Churches Together.

More information on the organization can be found at www.mrdf.org.uk online.

*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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